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Tuesday, March 1, 2011

Recycling with the Force

Saying my boys are obsessed with Star Wars is an understatement. They love all things related to the saga. We have all the movies and have watched them more times than General Grevious has arms. They have Lego Star Wars for their Game Boys, Gamecube, and Wii. They have collector cards, books, shirts, and light sabers shoved under their beds. We have light saber games and Legos to pass the time with. Needless to say, we are immersed in Star Wars culture. My husband can even imitate a Wookie with very little effort. It's a bit scary around here sometimes.

I know the allure of Star Wars. I remember it myself, although I was more interested in the love triangle between Luke, Leia, and Han Solo. The cute little Ewoks were the bomb and Darth Vader scared the pants off me. The neighbor kids and I would spend hours roleplaying in our yards. I get it. I do. However, there are days I can't fathom the fact that I know how many moons the fictional planet of Naboo has.

I have been trying to get my boys on board about caring for our planet in THIS galaxy. I have been pushing recycling, reducing, and reusing. It's hard to get them involved, but hopefully they will be able to turn their passion into something a little more fruitful than debating Death Star destruction theories. So I did what Glee does best and made a mash up. Star Wars meets recycling- Mom style.

I had a bunch of oatmeal containers destined for the recycle bins, but I saw an awesome opportunity. We decided to make R2-D2 holders. We've used them for Valentine's Day boxes and Halloween trick-or-treat containers. They are perfect for stashing Pokemon' cards or arrowheads.

We cut two large legs from strong cardboard and found a small box to put under the front of the robot. The boys painted the legs and oatmeal containers white. We found a plastic salsa container (butter would work too!) and glued it to the oatmeal lid for easy acess to the insides of his belly. They painted the head blue and detailed control boxes on his body and legs. We scrounged around for different lids and caps to make the small cameras that R2 is famous for. They painted them and I hot glued them. Hot glue was essential in the construction and allowed a quick set.

The end result was pretty amazing. Especially, when you consider all these items came from the recycle bin. Force working with me on this one, I had...yes...hmmmmmm.